The invention relates generally to the comb arts and more specifically to a comb with rotatable teeth which may be used for example for grooming pets.
A variety of combs having rotatable teeth are currently available. The rotatable action of the teeth in such a comb prevents pulling out hair when a tangle is encountered during grooming. Such combs can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,808,062 to Schiffman, 3,855,689 to Schiffman, 4,187,866 to Zwiren et al. and 4,295,480 to Biela. Schiffman '062 shows a comb with rotatable teeth which are loaded into a first supporting member sideways and locked into the first supporting member by a second supporting member. The supporting members with the teeth loaded therein are inserted into a handle structure. The Schiffman comb presents a problem of inefficient assembly, requiring precision placement and retention of the teeth in the first supporting member prior to affixing the second supporting member.
The method of making a comb illustrated in Schiffman '689 helps to improve the efficiency of assembling such a comb in that a comb body is provided with multiple bores therethrough for receiving the teeth. Once the teeth are received in these bores, the cavity through which the teeth were inserted into the bores is sealed by a top piece. However, this method also presents a problem in that the mold which is used to form the comb body with the multiple bores must be very complex and of high precision to reliably form the numerous holes. In the alternative, if the bores are drilled into the comb body, after the comb body is formed, the drilling process must be of high precision and introduces the potential for error in alignment and spacing. Such drilling is also an inherently expensive process.
The comb taught in Zwiren et al. '866 is very similar to Schiffman '689 in that a tooth retaining member mounts in a recess within a handle and is ultrasonically welded therein. The Zwiren et al. comb, similar to Schiffman '866, requires a high precision molding or drilling process to achieve the required number of tooth-receiving bores with the required spacing and alignment. Such problems reduce the efficiency and economy of mass production.
Biela '480 and Schiffman '062 teach very similar methods for mounting comb teeth within the tooth retaining portion. Biela '480 reduces the problems associated with retaining the teeth in the retaining structure by providing for better retention and alignment of the teeth prior to mounting the second portion of the tooth retaining holder. However, this comb structure and its assembly also is inefficient for mass production.
A common problem among the four combs noted above is that each design is not conducive to very close tooth spacing. For example, in the combs which require placement of the teeth on a first support member of a tooth holding portion prior to sealing the tooth holder portion with a second support member, close spacing is difficult to achieve because of the number of teeth and the complexity of positioning the teeth. Similarly, in the combs in which the bores are formed or drilled into a single tooth retaining portion, it is very difficult to maintain a high degree of positional and alignment precision using a drilling or other bore forming process.